Another excellent episode of Trolley! Assemblyman Nam has finally revealed his true face, while Soo Bin’s origins have been made abundantly clear.
Read Last Week’s Episode Review.
Oh man, let’s just jump right into it and start with the latest Soo Bin segment of our story.
Soo Bin the Call Girl?
Finally, finally – we got irrefutable proof that Soo Bin may indeed be working as a call girl and/or spy sent to infiltrate Assemblyman Nam’s camp.
As it turns out, Soo Bin isn’t an orphan at all in the sense that her parents are dead – her mom just abandoned her. Just like in most of these Kdrama, Soo Bin’s mother seems to have remarried and wants nothing to do with her firstborn now that she has a new family.
Feeling rejected, Soo Bin found her mother to seek a relationship but after 10 years, her mom only thought she wanted money.
Soo Bin lied about having a phone to Hye Ju because she specifically brought her phone while awaiting her mother’s call to reconnect. Soo Bin also mentioned during their conversation that her mother “had no clue” how she had been living, and that she knew who her baby’s father was.
While I’m not sure if the father of Soo Bin’s unborn child really was Ji Hoon, Woo Jae’s line about “the baby might not even be Ji Hoon’s” now makes sense. As does the JD tattoo, since JD is a pimp and was pictured in the photograph on Soo Bin’s phone with her and Ji Hoon.
(And Soo Bin’s reluctance to lose the lip balm her mother gave her, her apology of lip balm to the little girl who buys dumplings, and Soo Bin’s pained expression when Hye Ju referred to her as “some kid she knows” in front of Seung Hee despite Soo Bin telling her to do so in an earlier interaction.)
Soo Bin also told Hye Ju that Ji Hoon wasn’t the type to rape someone, and told Assemblyman Nam that she never thought Ji Hoon was a scumbag.
If anything, given Soo Bin’s hostility toward Yeo Jin spying on Hye Ju and Assemblyman Nam’s fake persona – it seems like Ji Hoon was protecting Soo Bin from her pimp JD before his death.
As the text message that Ji Hoon was going to kill himself never sent (and his clearly non-waterproof phone wasn’t found on his body in the river) again – I think Assemblyman Nam, Woo Jae, or even JD or Assemblyman Kang had a hand in Ji Hoon’s death.
Why else would Soo Bin cut her hair and run away? Why would she be branded with JD’s mark if she weren’t considered his “property”?
Is Yeo Jin Afraid of Joong Do?
I think the whole point of Trolley as a Kdrama is to illustrate that looks can be deceiving.
In public, Yeo Jin boasts about how great a man Assemblyman Nam Joong Do is but in private – she seems afraid for her life. It was the same scenario with Woo Jae.
At first, Woo Jae and Yeo Jin were alluded to having an amicable relationship. Their first scene of standing outside of the Nam residence talking under the streetlight and Woo Jae refusing to put out his cigarette on the street due to a camera showed he cares about appearances. Despite it seeming like a raw and tender moment between the two.
Then, we had the dinner meeting where Woo Jae and Yeo Jin discussed the past.
Apparently, Woo Jae used to be a reporter and covered a story concerning Yeo Jin’s husband killing himself and their children years prior. Through her, Woo Jae was introduced to Assemblyman Nam, and has been with him the past 7 years despite expressed regret over leaving his journalism career.
Assemblyman Nam gained Woo Jae’s network of those friendly to him in the media, and we saw Woo Jae picking up a former co-worker who was sympathetic to the Assemblyman’s scandal/news on air.
However, Woo Jae mentioned to Yeo Jin that he would not allow the last 7 years of his life to be a waste.
During this exchange, the room changes and you can feel this overwhelming tension and hear Woo Jae’s veiled threats toward Yeo Jin. I don’t know if this is why Yeo Jin didn’t share that Soo bin was no longer pregnant, or if she wanted to report on something else Assemblyman Nam had done in the dark that had yet come to light.
Either way, Woo Jae didn’t want to hear it.
At the hospital with Hye Ju, Yeo Jin lied about Hye Ju not knowing what was in the phone to Assemblyman Nam before excusing herself to leave. I’ll get into Hye Ju in a few moments, but for somebody who took over Joong Do’s mothers’ shop, donates food to women and children, and brags about how wonderful he is in public – in all actuality, Yeo Jin seems terrified of the monster he’s become.
Did Seung Hee Expose Ms. Jo’s Granddaughter?
This episode we learned that Assemblyman Nam fully went to visit Ji Seung Kyu’s parents with two intentions: an apology, and blackmail material if said apology attempt failed.
Assemblyman Nam instructed Woo Jae to wait in the wings and film whatever were to transpire in the situation in case betting on Ms. Jo’s granddaughter failed.
(We could also have the conversation about Assemblyman Nam wanting to push the punishment after suicide bill forward being more so about Joong Do personally wanting to punish Soo Bin for Ji Hoon’s death than seeking justice for dating violence victims or his wife – but we’ll leave that for next time.)
In a (somewhat) shocking turn of events – Ms. Jo’s granddaughter was a call girl who was employed by medical student Ji Seung Kyu and interestingly enough, Assemblyman Kang’s chief supervisor.
I say somewhat shocking because the girl had a lot of money in a short amount of time (again Yeouido is a finance and political district in Seoul), and the episode started out with Assemblyman Nam’s campaign team alluding to somebody in their party causing a scandal by hiring call girls, but the conversation was interrupted when the assemblyman walked in.
Seung Hee stupidly wanted to “team up” with Ji Seung Kyu scumbag parents because apparently – according to Seung Hee’s logic – they are “all victims” of Assemblyman Nam and his wife despite having loved ones who committed sex crimes and killed themselves to not face consequences.
Interestingly enough, the Ji family made a whole lot of noise but now want to live quietly after they found out their son hired a call girl. They claim Seung Hee is the only one they told, and before beginning to write on a message board Seung Hee partially discusses the dilemma with her depressed husband.
Now, we never saw Seung Hee press send – and we don’t know who else knew despite the Ji family saying she was the only one.
When the news came out, Assemblyman Nam yelled at Woo Jae and even startled one of the campaign workers with his behavior, so I doubt it was him simply because he wouldn’t display anger like that intentionally as it conflicts with his public persona.
Assemblyman Kang thought he had the upper hand, so I don’t know if he would sell out his direct subordinate – especially since said subordinate was blackmailed by JD and Soo Bin. The transfer of blackmail money connects Assemblyman Kang to prostitution just as Hye Ju’s naïve text to Soo Bin’s phone now in possession of JD connects Assemblyman Nam to Soo Bin’s “services”.
Along with the surveillance pictures of a known call girl coming in and out of his home…and the missing photos in Hye Ju’s mail on Assemblyman Kang’s orders…the insinuation alone might ruin Assemblyman Kang’s public approval.
Will Joong Do Turn on Hye Ju?
I already know Assemblyman Nam would turn on his wife, since he already betrayed his son and wants to blame others for his death. Assemblyman Nam formally requested the law to prosecute Ji Hoon to the fullest extent in a press conference, and allowed his wife Hye Ju to kick Ji Hoon out and leave him alone in an apartment fresh out of jail.
If it doesn’t benefit his political career, then Assemblyman Nam has no need for the drama of it all.
Hye Ju and Joong Do’s agreement concerning politics has kept their marriage strong for almost 8 years since he entered the field. Hye Ju stays home to raise Yoon Seo, and the two do not discuss politics or his work. Everything was fine until Ji Hoon died, and Seung Hee entered the picture.
Since then, Hye Ju was (stupidly) blackmailed into visiting Youngsan and impeded Woo Jae’s investigation into her past. Hye Ju’s blackmail also interferes with Assemblyman Nam’s investigation into Assemblyman Nam and Lee Yoo Shin’s real estate scandal.
Hye Ju got too close to Soo Bin despite Joong Do advising against it. Now, Hye Ju is going around frantically trying to find Soo Bin, and even texted her phone which is now in possession of JD – a known blackmailer and pimp who is currently sitting with Assemblyman Kang’s advisor.
Hye Ju wouldn’t leave Ji Hoon phone thing alone, which resulted in more tension between Yeo Jin and Joong Do.
Hye Ju also berated Joong Do in private for “desiring justice” for dating violence victims. Now, she feels like a complete idiot for siding with Ji Seung Kyu’s parents after his father beat her husband up at the hospital.
Which by the way – if Joong Do and Hye Ju were being intimate she would have noticed the bruise on his chest. It seems like this is the first episode the two have done anything physical since the Seung Hee scandal broke.
Either way, I could go on all day but will save it for tomorrow’s episode recap.
Tell me your thoughts!
Do you think Hye Ju is causing more problems than she realizes for Assemblyman Nam?
Who do you think leaked Ms. Jo’s granddaughter’s background?
And…What do Joong Do and Woo Jae have on Yeo Jin?
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